Sanctuary City Motion Victory!
On June 9th, 2023 the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a motion to draft an ordinance that would in effect make Los Angeles a sanctuary city. The motion presents clear policy proposals that would prohibit the use of government resources, property, or personnel from being used for any federal immigration enforcement and end the entanglement between local authorities and federal immigration agencies such as ICE . After 60 days, Los Angeles will be presented with this draft ordinance. This is a moment for celebration and also recognition of DSA-LA’s organizing efforts since 2017.
A History of DSA-LA’s role in the class struggle to win sanctuary policies 2017-2020
DSA-LA began its support for sanctuary policies back when it coordinated its work through a “Sanctuary City Working Group” that focused on activism, political education, and civil disobedience to combat anti-immigrant policies being pushed by the Trump administration. DSA understood that sanctuary had existed since the 1980s when refugees fled from civil wars in Central America that were being funded by the U.S. government. And that forced migration is often the result of imperialism, war, and neoliberal economic policies. While many cities and counties throughout the U.S. had established sanctuary policies, Los Angeles–a city where over a third of its population is immigrants –had no firm position on disentangling its resources from federal immigration enforcement.
In March 2017, DSA-LA demonstrated outside of the recently re-elected liberal Mayor Eric Garcetti election party, disrupted his victory speech, and demanded that the city take a tougher stand against deportation. Mayor Garcertti would not affirm a stance on this policy and instead diluted concrete demands with his reframed “A City of Sanctuary” slogan to suggest that Los Angeles morally supports sanctuary, but would never intervene materially against the Trump Administration. When the LA city council failed to pass any immigration policy, activists pressured Mayor Garcetti to pass Executive Directive 20 which prevented the city from spending resources on immigration enforcement. DSA-LA participated in the ICE out of Los Angeles coalition, which used an inside-outside strategy to pressure the LA City Council, County of Los Angeles, and the state of California to pass sanctuary laws. The inside-outside strategy had several organizations working closely with officials, while others held agitational and oppositional approaches to centrists and conservatives.
On May 18th, 2017, Clauda Rueda, a key organizer in the ICE out of LA coalition and member of the Immigrant Youth Coalition, was kidnapped by Border Patrol outside her home in Boyle Heights. She led several campaigns in the past against ICE including one to free her own mother, Teresa. The coalition saw this raid as political retaliation for organizing against anti-immigrant, white supremacist policies. DSA-LA responded and amplified the pressure demanding Claudia’s release . Despite Border Patrol transferring Claudia to San Diego, they eventually released her after a few days of significant statewide pressure.
Throughout the summer and fall of 2017, DSA-LA gave support of SB 54, the CA Values Act, which curtailed use of state and local resources from engaging in deportations and created spaces safe from ICE, including at schools, health facilities, and courthouses. On April 29, 2017, DSA-LA held a teach-in at UCLA to present the policies required to establish a sanctuary campus and city, while also questioning California legislators on their weakening of SB-54 in order to appease Republicans and capitalists. Following the pressure of key Democratic leadership, DSA-LA shifted its strategy as then- Sheriff Jim Mcdonnell had begun public opposition to SB 54.
On July 13, 2017, DSA-LA held a demonstration at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s East L.A. station to demand the Sheriff end his opposition to the bill and his alliance with rightwing forces. About 50 DSA-LA members and coalition partners demonstrated outside the Belvedere Park station while 6 DSA-LA members risked arrest inside the Sheriff’s Office. In response, the sheriff deputies chained their offices shut, barricaded their own driveways with cars, and several put on riot gear. The stalemate lasted for about four hours before they released those engaged in civil disobedience to the larger demonstration in the park. DSA-LA and the ICE out of LA coalition delivered a message to Sheriff McDonnell – Los Angeles would not tolerate any more collusion between ICE and law enforcement! California signed SB 54 into law on October 5, 2017 and it went into effect on January 1, 2018!
Having won a first major victory, DSA-LA’s Sanctuary City Working Group restructured and became the chapter’s “Immigration Justice Committee.” DSA-LA broadened its sanctuary work by connecting the terrible conditions that refugees go through in the journey before crossing various borders to the conditions once living in the U.S. and seeking sanctuary.
DSA-LA coordinated unofficial delegations to Tijuana throughout 2018 including spending the 2018-2019 New Years week supporting Haitian, Central American, and African refugees preparing for their Asylum interviews at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Refugees shared countless stories of the living conditions at the detention centers, calling them “Hieleras” (Iceboxes) for their cold temperatures and reflecting the similarity to concentration camps for their lack of food, separation of kids from parents, terrible hygiene, and utter disregard of their humanity.
For nearly one year following these delegations, DSA-LA prepared for a “National Day of Action to Close the Camps.” DSA member Alexandria Ocasio Cortez amplified these terrible conditions, and DSA chapters across the country began to coordinate their marches and build relationships with key partners. On October 12, 2019, DSA-LA held its largest demonstration ever demanding the federal government close the camps in the Southern Border, with over 400 participants and 50 organizations. These centers continue to exist, though some of the conditions in them have marginally shifted.
And then the Pandemic arrived in March 2020, and the federal government failed to provide any assistance to undocumented workers. DSA-LA shifted its activities to supporting undocumented immigrants with financial assistance. The chapter fundraised over $60,000 and distributed it to over 400 participants in our Stimulus Solidarity Campaign. Hundreds of mixed status immigrant working class families joined the chapter after identifying a successful mutual aid program in Los Angeles. The chapter also supported various unemployed immigrants to organize tenant associations while providing workshops on sanctuary policies, knocking doors in tenant buildings, and encouraging renters to go on strike during the pandemic. Several unemployed DSA-LA immigrant members won their strikes and got their rents paid by the state!
2020-2022 DSA-LA Electoral Victories amplify Democratic Socialist Policies
DSA-LA’s experience with immigrant organizing revealed that in order to win democratic socialist policies we need not only to have a strong organized base in our neighborhoods and workplaces, but that we need socialists in office to pass and defend these policies. Without key electeds moving to make Los Angeles a sanctuary city, we would not be able to disentangle ICE from local police.
In December 2019, DSA-LA endorsed immigrant and democratic socialist Nithya Raman leading to a general election victory in November 2020, where Raman defeated the conservative incumbent by a 52.87% to 47.13% margin and became a City Council Member representing District 4.
In October 2021, DSA-LA endorsed the son of immigrants and democratic socialist Hugo Soto-Martínez leading to a runoff general election victory in November 2022, where Soto-Martinez defeated the corporate Democrat incumbent by a 57.8% to 42.2% margin and became a City Council Member representing District 13.
Finally in January 2022, DSA-LA endorsed the daughter of immigrants, an abolitionist and democratic socialist Eunisses Hernandez leading to her outright victory in the March 2022 primary election, where Hernadez defeated the liberal incumbent by a 53.9% to 45.8% margin and became a City Council Member representing District 1.
Next Steps: The Democratic Socialist Program and Future Immigration Policy Demands
DSA-LA members engaged in immigrant organizing played key roles in these campaigns for LA City Council. DSA-LA helped draft local immigration policy platforms and created communications, fundraisers, canvassing, tabling, and phone banking events for DSA candidates. The assessment, as presented by DSA-LA’s Democratic Socialist Program (DSP), was that by electing socialist representatives the chapter would advance policies benefiting working class immigrants. So far, this has been proven correctly. Councilmembers Raman, Soto-Martinez and Hernandez co-authored the Sanctuary Motion and championed its progress through City Council. This was not possible with the former liberal and neoliberal so-called “immigration supporters” on City Council. Los Angeles now enters a phase in the immigrant rights struggle to not just pass the ordinance, but to defend it as part of the larger struggle against White Supremacy and Capitalism across the country.
Now that we have taken a large step forward in advancing sanctuary city policy in the Los Angeles City Council, DSA-LA has to assess what new policy proposals around immigrant justice can be made as part of the DSP. We celebrate today, but we know the fight continues. La lucha sigue!